The Aging Beat

Have you ever thought about how you want the inside of your home to look? Do you want something reminiscent of Hollywood’s Golden Age or Mad Men? Neutral colors, or bold flashes of ochre and seaglass green?

That’s why we at Arbor Builders have put together this quick guide featuring nine popular home design styles you might want to apply when building your new home.

Modern and minimalist home design styles

Three of today’s most popular home design styles draw from a time when everything seemed like it was running fast because it was. Homes with a modern, mid-century modern, or Scandinavian look cut things down to a bare minimum so they can keep pace with an era that saw us build the first cars and go to the Moon.

• Modern – Born from an age of machination that stretched from the 1920s to the 1950s, the modern style of home design follows one simple truth: Form follows function. It sacrifices any object that does not serve a purpose and favors clean lines, exposed beams made of natural wood, and a neutral color palette over decorative molding, fringed pillows/rugs, and any other unnecessary objects that could be considered fussy or fluff.
• Mid-century modern – There are only a couple differences between the modern home design style the mid-century modern home design style – which takes us back to a period between 1933 and 1965 – but those differences that draw from bold graphic art that made the early 60s the early 60s are why everyone wants their living room to look like Don Draper’s loft. Bolder colors like ochre, orange, and mustard yellow get thrown into the mix. You’ll see a few rounded edges on the furniture and other touches that don’t have to be there.
• Scandinavian – And then there’s the Scandinavian home design style. That’s right, IKEA. This design style adds a sense of warmth and comfort to the modern or minimalist home design styles by bringing in flowing curtains, brightly colored throw pillows, and layers of sheets and blankets on your bed. It lets you have clean lines and comfortable furniture.

Elegance versus craftsmanship

Which do you prefer – an understated yet elegant handcrafted dining room table or a big, bright orange star-shaped lamp that hangs from the center of your living room ceiling and catches the eye as soon as someone walks into the door. This is the difference between the arts and crafts home design style and the Hollywood Regency style. Luckily, there’s a compromise known as shabby sheek where you can have your cake and eat it too.

• Arts and Crafts – The arts and crafts home design style pulls from a movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s when people pushed back against the sameness of a modern and industrial society by focusing on the individual craftsman and his or her work. Wallpaper and carpets are O.K, so long as they don’t take center stage and pull your attention away from the elegant touches someone carved into a wooden dining table at the center of the room by hand.
• Hollywood Regency – The Hollywood Regency home design style wants you to be distracted by its luxury and glamor. Born out of Hollywood’s Golden Age, this aesthetic features bright purple couches and other bold statement pieces. Starburst motifs, mirrors, suede, and velvet scream out to Mr. DeVille and let him know you’re ready to take a picture under a bright spotlight on the red carpet.
• Shabby chic – You might want to try the shabby chic home design style if you’re interested in blending understated craftsmanship with little bits of luxury – imagine throwing an elegant, hand-sewn silk tablecloth over a wood dining room table that you picked up at a vintage furniture store even though there are a couple dings on it. This decorating style and the designer behind it burst forward into the mainstream during the late 1990s only to slam into a wall during the Great Recession. It’s slowly coming back into vogue, bringing a whole lot of mismatched pillows and soft pastels with it.

Slowing things down in the country or at the beach

This final set of design styles gives your home a more rustic look and focuses on places where people might like to relax. The modern farmhouse style harkens back to simple, easy country living with wood touches you might find on a barn or an old fence. The coastal style takes people to the beaches of Cape Cod while the tropical style might be more suited for people who’d rather vacation at Palm Beach or Miami.

• Modern farmhouse – There’s shabby chic and there’s country chic, The modern farmhouse design style sends a message that people who like the sleek lines and exposed beams of a loft the city can feel right at home on a farm in the country where they can fuss about in the garden, sip a glass of iced tea, and listen to the frogs yammer on from a nearby pond. This style blends reclaimed wood, wide plank floors, wrought iron curtain rods, and marble countertops and with big, comfortable furniture and vintage accent pieces.
• Coastal – While a modern farmhouse look imitates what you might see on the farm, the coastal home design style takes you straight to a beach-front cottage on the New England coast. It’s known for its softer textures, dark hardwood floors, teak furniture, wide stripes, and a blue-green color scheme that reminds you of sitting on the beach and watching the tide roll in.
• Tropical – But not everyone wants to spend their vacation on the New England coast. Some people want to visit places that are warm like Palm Springs or the Caribbean. And these people might find the brighter colors common to the tropical design style a touch more to their liking. Think jute instead of maple, palm frond prints instead of washed out whites and tailored stripes, and having a wide paddle ceiling fan serve as the centerpiece for your room…